Monthly Archives: February 2017

Are you behind in your taxes? Are you suffering the indignity of stressful calls from the Internal Revenue Service? Perhaps the IRS has begun garnishment of your pay, thus leaving your family with less money with which to live. Perhaps a levy has been placed on your bank account. Consulting a will relieve your stress. Your first consultation is free. Your lawyer knows all the intricacies of tax law and your options in dealing with the numerous regulations pertaining to taxes.

Your NC bankruptcy lawyer will discuss with you your specific case. Individual tax situations can be complicated, and relief using Federal Law will vary depending on the circumstances of each case. Finding a knowledgeable attorney who is well versed in these laws is paramount.

Often, pressure is the greatest because of garnishment of wages. Your family needs are important and that money being taken is necessary to your home management and childcare. Regardless of the kind of tax you owe, filing for bankruptcy stops garnishment cold! When the taxing authority finds out that you have filed, it is supposed to act immediately to stop garnishment. Once the garnishment stops, even though you still owe the back tax amount, your options in repayment become more manageable, more in your control, and an amount that you can afford.

Many back taxes are dischargeable. If some back taxes are more than three years old, they may be dischargeable and you do not have to pay them back at all. By filing for bankruptcy and discharging certain taxes you owe, you will not have to pay those taxes back, ever.

There are four rules that apply to make a tax dischargeable. A knowledgeable attorney who has years of experience in this area will be your best resource. He will get extremely accurate information from the IRS and your State Department of Revenue to verify exactly what you owe and whether it is dischargeable under the four rules that are required to be met.

Money belts are mostly used while traveling to keep the money safe. Money belts are basically security wallets that ensure that the money is safe while traveling. Since a money belt would be close to the body they are usually not susceptible to pickpockets.

Money belts come in perfect waist sizes and are mostly waterproof. The material also soaks up the sweat and does not allow the sweat to seep through to the money within, hence keeping the money safe. Money belts are made with a variety of materials such as cotton, poly-cotton, silk, nylon and other soft materials that would be comfortable to wear and at the same time are strong and durable.

Some money belts even have separate pockets to hold important travel-related documents such as a passport, tickets, travelers checks, and currency – along with other valuables – to ensure their safety. These pockets are usually layered with plastic to ensure that they do not get wet under any circumstances. Also, a zippered compartment is provided in many money belts for credit cards and other small valuables. Most money belts are available in black, brown, tan or bolder colors such as indigo, olive and blue colors, and are quite durable to withstand the strain of travel. The color can be specified at the time of ordering.

Money belts are made of lightweight washable materials that are specially treated to keep away bacteria and other microbes that form due to sweat and body heat. They are capable of absorbing sweat and do not allow the moisture to seep through. They come with adjustable straps that are either elastic or Velcro binds to ensure a perfect fit to the wearer. Although they come in different sizes, most of them are a one size fits all due to the adjustable straps.

Money belts can be secured under a shirt or blouse and are not easily detectible. They ensure safety when traveling long distances as they are closer to the body and so are more secure. All the travel documents and other valuables would be safer compared to when they are in the luggage or a handbag as a pickpocket would not be able to access money belts.

Money belts are also a safe option when going in for water sports like diving or skiing. They are made with waterproof materials and so would ensure the valuables are safe even when under water. Some money belts come in smaller sizes and can be tied onto a wrist instead of around the waist. Smaller items such as currency, keys, identification cards, and credit cards etc., can be stored in these money belts. A long sleeved shirt would definitely hide this money belt while ensuring safety simultaneously.

Below are 19 common deductions for someone working from home (as over 90% of coaches do).

Working from home has many advantages. For one you are able to organizing and arrange your time based on what works best for you and your family. If you work best in the morning then you are able to schedule your most important calls and computer work then, observing a more relaxed schedule in the afternoons.

Have fun and enjoy spending your income on deductible related expenses. I like to spend my money on coaching and life improvement or success books, and on coach training materials or programs.

Keep track of your receipts and easily enter the numbers into your accounting books. After you have entered it in, mark the receipt as “entered” and store it in an appropriately labeled envelope. (“June Outgoing” for example.)

As a coach working from home, what can I deduct?

1. A portion of air conditioning, electricity, heat, and water.
2. A portion of your house insurance or renters insurance.
3. A portion of your rent or mortgage can be deductible if you have a space that is dedicated to the use of your home office.
4. Bank account, check cashing and check replacement fees.
5. Books related to coaching, life change, marketing, business, taxes, bookkeeping, success, self help, weight loss, health, psychology.
6. Cleaning supplies. This includes waste baskets, cloths, and floor cleaners etc.
7. Computer parts/ supplies.
8. Salaries: general employees, assistants, secretaries, receptionists, accountants, bookkeepers.
9. Interest on any business related borrowing you did, though for a home coaching business it is rarely necessary to borrow to start your business. This would include credit card interest as well.
10. Internet.
11. Mail related items: stamps, envelopes, gas used to mail the letter.
12. Maintenance and repairs including waste and snow removal.
13. Office furniture.
14. Office supplies.
15. Phone.
16. Printer parts/ supplies.
17. Security system.
18. Software.
19. Training. (Coaching or business related.)

THE STOCK MARKET volatility of the past few years has taught some valuable lessons about the stock market:

* THE MARKET TENDS TO REVERT TO THE MEAN. There is a tendency for the stock market, when it has an extended period of above- or below-average returns, to revert back to the average return. Thus, following an extended period
Of above-average returns in the 1990s, the stock market experienced a significant downturn, helping to bring the averages back in line.

* DONT CHASE PERFORMANCE. Investors often move out of sectors that are not performing well, investing that money in investments that are currently high performers. But the market is cyclical; and often, those high performers are poised to underperform, while the sectors just sold are ready to outperform. Rather than trying to guess which
Sector is going to outperform, make sure your portfolio is broadly diversified across a range of investment sectors.

*AVOID STRATEGIES DESIGNED TO GET RICH QUICK IN THE STOCK MARKET. The stock market is a place for investment, not speculation. When your expectations are too high, you have a tendency to chase after high-risk investments. Your goal should be to earn reasonable returns over the long term, investing in high-quality stocks.

*DONT AVOID SELLING A STOCK BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LOSS. When selling a stock with a loss, an investor has to admit that he/she made a mistake, which is psychologically difficult to do. When evaluating your stock investments, objectively review the prospects of each one, making decisions to hold or sell on that basis rather than on whether the stock has a gain or loss.

* MAKE SURE AN INVESTMENT WILL ADD DIVERSIFICATION BENEFITS TO YOUR PORTFOLIO. Diversification helps reduce the volatility in your portfolio, since various investments will respond differently to economic events and market factors. Yet, its common for investors to keep adding investments that are similar in nature. This does not add much in the way of diversification, while making the portfolio more difficult to monitor. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining financial markets.

* NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THE MARKET IS HEADED. No one has shown a consistent ability to predict where the market is headed in the future. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. So, dont pay attention to either gloomy or optimistic predictions. Instead, approach investing with a formal plan so you can make informed decisions with confidence.

Many Americans have over spent during the last 3 years. It has created a major credit problem for most. Here are some important indicators to help you see if you are on the verge of major debt problems:

You have little or no savings – Very often, people fall into bankruptcy because they have some unexpected expense. If you have no savings built up, it means that any medical emergency, car accident or other unforeseen challenge will have to be paid for on credit.

You only make minimum payments on your credit card debt – When you only pay the minimum balance on your credit card debt, you are practically giving you money away to credit card companies, lenders and banks. You accrue the most interest on your credit card debt making minimum payments, and thus you really are not solving your debt problems.

You continue making credit card purchases, even though you are trying to pay off those same cards – If you were trying to bail the water out of a boat, you wouldn’t put it back into the ocean would you? The same logic applies to credit card debt; if you know you have a debt problem, put the plastic away until you can get the balance down to either zero or at least a manageable number.

You have at least one credit card or line of credit that is near or over its credit limit – A sure sign of a potentially major debt problem is when your lines of credit are all used up. If you do not have enough money in your paycheck to fund your expenses, and you have used up all of your credit lines, what will you turn to in order to make ends meet? Debt problems often begin to become obvious when a consumer has no money left just before rent is due, or a car payment. This is when you have nowhere to turn since all your credit cards are maxed out.

One last sign of debt problems is when you are occasionally late in making payments on your bills, your credit cards and other monthly expenses – Once you are late once, it becomes okay to be late a second time. Part of the snowball effect is when a consumer gets so overwhelmed with their debt problems that paying bills in general becomes too much. Soon enough, all of the mail begins to take on a pink tone (meaning Past Due notices) and potential debt problems become massive debt problems.

If you are wondering if your finances exhibit any warning signs of potential debt problems, check the above five warning signals. If one of more of these sounds familiar, you should immediately take stock of your finances and see where you can cut back, whether you can make more money or if you need some sort of outside assistance.

For the smooth running of the business, bank account is compulsory. But business people with bad credit history find it tough to open one. In such circumstances non status bank accounts proves to be quite beneficial. This account is particularly designed in helping new entrepreneurs to turn into good reputable professional business entrepreneurs. These accounts are perfect for those people who cannot show their revenue and facing dreadful credit ratings. It gives an extra opportunity to the bad creditors to show them a good account holder. One can get this account with no restriction in any reputed bank as a number of high street banks offer this banking service with several services.

Every UK consumer can get this account to structure a new company or to run finances of any accessible business. Non -status bank accounts are accessible without the trauma of prolonged paper work and business strategy. Any individual can take this banking service just by providing your identity and address proof. The documents which you offer with the submission form enable you to create your new bank account to hold your business money.

Whether you are a sole trader, have a partnership firm or a limited company these offer you a number of benefits that helps in construction of your business. Some of the services obtainable by banks are its no credit check scheme which helps everybody to qualify for this account the ideal for people suffering from a poor payment status, Infinite deposits and withdrawals facility, Cheque book and debit card is also accessible. Free and usual updates, Internet and telephonic banking are also provided for more ease.

With these accounts, banks give the individual money manager that look after your account and confirmation of all your transactions. This manager helps you to craft right fiscal result and to get back your fiscal life on track.

Online you will find a variety of such banks and service providers that assists you in opening this account with several non status banking. That is why it is sensible that you much check out all the circumstances and facilities before making any decision.

If you have an income tax debt in Canada, at times it can feel paralyzing. Income tax debt in Canada can grow at an alarming rate. Unlike our counter parts in the US who often turn to criminal action to enforce non-compliance, the Canada Revenue Agency relies heavily on imposing interest and penalties to penalize taxpayers who file late, fail to declare income or improperly declare expenses.

Once late returns have been filed or past returns have been re-assessed by the Canada Revenue Agency, their first step will be to assess a penalty on the tax debt. The Canada Revenue Agency’s next step will be to calculate interest on the income tax debt and penalties going backwards to the tax year when the tax debt occurred. The end result is that the taxpayer can end up owing more to the Canada Revenue Agency in interest and penalties than the principal tax debt. For example; an income tax debt of $20,000 may end up being more than $40,000 once the interest and penalties have been calculated.

In Canada, a taxpayer can apply for income tax relief under the Income Tax Act. This does not mean that the principal tax debt can be reduced. However, the Canada Revenue Agency can cancel all or part of the interest and penalties.

One way that a taxpayer can qualify for income tax relief under the taxpayer relief provision is because of extraordinary circumstances. Penalties and interest may be waived if an event has occurred that was beyond the taxpayers control and was the cause of the non-compliance. Some examples of extraordinary circumstances are natural disasters (fire, flood etc), a civil disturbance, a serious illness or accident, serious emotional or mental distress, the death of an immediate family member etc

Another way that a taxpayer can qualify for income tax relief on an income tax debt is if they are suffering from extreme financial hardship. If the taxpayer can substantiate that they cannot pay because of job loss, they cannot pay the interest charges but could pay the principal tax debt, payment of the interest charges would interfere with their ability to provide basic necessities like shelter, food and transportation; in these cases the Canada Revenue Agency may waive all or part of the interest and penalties owing on the tax debt.

Finally, income tax relief on an unpaid income tax debt may be granted if the cause of the interest and penalties was caused, all or in part, by the actions of the Canada Revenue Agency. Some examples of this are processing delays; errors in material which led the taxpayer to file a return based on improper information, incorrect information being provided to the taxpayer by the Canada Revenue Agency, like errors in processing and undue delays.

An application for income tax relief is an official process that should be handled by a professional if you would like to increase the likelihood of your application being accepted.

A water damage event his hit your home, and one of the first things you should do is to check your insurance policy or call your insurance agent and determine if your damage is covered. Even though you may be faced with plenty of damage and the beginning of mold, all homeowners policies dont automatically cover all types of water damage.

Once you understand what your policy covers, then you can quickly begin to remediate the damage to your property and begin to get the information to file a claim assuming you know what will be covered, according to the web site insure.com.

First and foremost, as some residents of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast learned during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a flood is not covered by homeowners insurance. Floods are only covered by flood insurance thats issued by the National Flood Insurance Program and cant be bought through nearly any insurance company.

Heres the kicker, though. Flood insurance policies have a ceiling not shared by homeowners insurance, and a separate level for contents that many people dont bother to adjust to their situations. So many homeowners in New Orleans wanted their homeowners insurance to handle the situation, because it provided more coverage.
Water damage from a leaking room is covered by most homeowners insurance, though the damage to the roof is not. Thats because of the generally accepted principle that anything related to maintenance falls to the homeowners. Roofs need to be properly maintained so the roof damage is not allowed.

Likewise, water from an appliance overflowing or pipes freezing and bursting, are both covered. Again, insurance companies general cover water damage if it was a sudden, catastrophic event, and not, as insure.com explains, a gradual wear and tear over time that proper maintenance could have avoided.

And two final areas of water damage: Seepages from the ground into the basement and sewer backup. Neither of these are covered by homeowners insurance. Seepage clearly is a gradual event that can be diagnosed and corrected before any significant damage results. Sewer backup is something that many insurance policies around the country specifically exclude.

So, now you know whether your own water event is covered by homeowners, flood insurance or has to be repaired out of pocket. And you are ready to take the next step – which is to document the damage and get an adjuster to your house as soon as possible to begin the process of submitting an insurance claim.

Nowadays, even more than ever, businesses across the country are still wanting to grow and expand. Perhaps taking on new and different markets, opening new offices or even just refurbishing their current offices. Perhaps many of these businesses will not have the cashflow available to grow and expand. They will then need to look around for companies who specialise in organising business finance. So what should these companies keep in mind when looking around for suitable companies that offer business finance?
In the UK there are a huge amount of various companies and institutions advertising their business finance services. See for yourself and type in the search phrase business finance or business financing into any search engine and the list of results you get back will astound you. It really is overwhelming with the amount of companies available. So how do you pick the right company for you? Here is some advice which may just help you narrow down your list of business finance companies.
First of all it is essential that a business finance advisor takes time to listen to your requirements. Once they have pinpointed your specific requirements they should then be able to highlight the best possible business financing options available to you. Having good communication channels between you and the business finance company really is really important to make sure you get the best possible finance solution. Therefore you really should try to find a company that you feel comfortable talking to and who are easily contactable.
It is also a good idea to make sure you check business finance companies to ensure that they have the expertise you require. Do not be afraid to ask whether individual companies have assisted others gain business financing for the purpose you require. Of course the more reputable business finance companies will be more than willing to provide you with information on how they have assisted other businesses. The websites for individual companies are a great way to first of all assess whether a company is experienced, or not.
Remember, as with most products and services it is always essential to shop around. Do not automatically assume you are getting the best deal with the first business finance company that you make contact with. Do not be afraid to get several business financing quotes from several business finance companies. As pointed out above, the market is full of companies wanting to help you, so competition is fierce. Taking time to shop around for business financing could really pay off and you really could save yourself a lot of money.
If this all sounds interesting and you would like to make contact with a reputable business finance company then why not pay a visit to Bell Finance. With Bell Finance you can be sure of getting friendly and specialist business financing advice. At Bell Finance you will find a comprehensive range of business finance solutions to choose from. Why not check them out today at bellfinance.co.uk.

In the wake of recession many businesses have either gone down or have simply ended. But thankfully some kind of businesses never got affected so badly; those are evergreen fields like chemical industries or food industries or restaurant business. So opening a franchise is the best business. Franchise is set up by the company after good research and testing the viability. Right now opening franchise in Philippines is the best idea.

Philippines is said to be the hub of franchise. Since it attracts lot of tourists attention food franchises in Philippines is very popular as it makes the tourists food of choice available in the foreign land. There are numerous franchises for shopping centers. In Philippines franchise does a very good business and more and more people are getting involved in it.

But many precautions are to be taken before opening a franchise in Philippines like a trusted partner should be found, market value of product and demand in location etc should be well researched on. Otherwise a franchise opened without any research or findings can sink terribly into losses. No company would want this of course bigger brands that are universally famous may not have any threats regarding opening a franchise in Philippines but there is no harm in doing research, it will only help. Confidence of brands popularity might turn into overt confidence just to incur losses. As they say Prevention is better than cure.

Health and wellness centers are also on a boom in the country and so opening any such franchise in Philippines can be surely considered. People go to Thailand and Philippines to get treated for various ailments and so having a wellness or health care center can be viable. But not every kind of franchise in Philippines runs successfully, the product has to be in demand or must be unique and extremely useful. A good market research and public opinion may help to open a correct product franchise.

Philippiness franchise association can be consulted in choosing the right kind of franchise to open according to current trend and demand of the market. This would further help the project to become fool proof and totally feasible. These are efforts to make sure that the franchise has enough takers in the market and that the products are in customers demand and will sell like hot cakes.

But some precautions are also to be taken by giving the franchise to someone. The franchisor should have enough knowledge about the product or service. He should be good at interacting with customers depending upon the kind of product. He should be passionate about his business and treat it dearly. Franchise in Philippines has many takers these days and is a very profitable business considering tourist and migrating population to this small but beautiful country.